Feed the Flames
by felique
Summary: Everyone knows Kai. But only Kai knows Marina, the girl who beat him while he was with the BladeSharks. He had forgotten all about her after joining Tyson, but his memory is jolted when she shows up out of nowhere, wanting a rematch. (rated for language)
1. Invitation from Team Demangel

Chapter 1:  
  
Invitation from Team Demangel  
  
Marina Obayashi. He hadn't seen her since he was leader of the Blade Sharks. And now here she was, standing right in front of him, telling him that she'd been all over the place tracking him and the Bladebreakers, and had become good friends with the Saint Shields and other Beybladers along the way, including Mariah of the White Tigers, and Salima of the Psychics. She had watched their battles against the All Stars, the Majestics, and Tala, and, honestly, Kai was at a bit of a loss.  
  
Her blue eyes glittered. "Did you miss me, Kai?" What kind of question was that? She had beat him that day, and then vanished. He had forgotten about her once he joined Tyson and friends, and then she pops up, out of nowhere, trying to convince him to get the Bladebreakers to face her team, the Demangels.  
  
"I accept!"  
  
"Shut UP, Tyson!"  
  
"Who asked you, Hilary?"  
  
"I was about to ask you the same thing!"  
  
Marina leaned a bit to her right, peering around Kai as Tyson and Hilary broke into a quarrel, Rei and Max both trying not to get too involved and Kenny trying to break them up. Kai closed his eyes, and Marina giggled. "So, what do you say, Kai? It seems the 'World Champion' is all too eager. But it's up to the Captain..."  
  
Kai's eyes snapped open, their gazes meeting in a stony stare. A smirk tugged at the edge of Marina's mouth. She had stared into his icy eyes before.  
  
"You've got all the information written down?" he said finally.  
  
Marina grinned, handing him a white envelope. "It's all there...and my cell- phone number, too, incase you've got any questions..." she brushed her raven hair from her eyes, her long bangs having fallen out of her ponytail. She waved to Tyson who had finally stopped bickering with Hilary, and nodded to Rei, Max, and Kenny, then looked back to Kai, smiling faintly. "I'll see you in America." She then turned and exited Mr. Dickenson's office, down to where three other girls waited for her, each with a hood up so as to veil their identities until the battle.  
  
Mr. Dickenson, who had remained silent throughout the whole discussion, finally cleared his throat and stood. "Well, Kai, open up the envelope and see what is says."  
  
Kai did so, reading the information on the pale pink piece of paper. They all were burning with excitement, although only Tyson was unable to keep this feeling to himself.  
  
"Where is it? Where is it, Kai? What does it say? It's in America??!"  
  
"Let the guy read!" Hilary snapped. But not even Hilary could dampen Tyson's spirits now. He was interested in battling anyone who knew he had beaten Tala, the World Champ...she had even called him the 'World Champion' and watched his battles, which made him all the more eager.  
  
"It's in Washington." Kai said finally, handing the invitation to Rei who scanned it over fleetingly, Max reading over his shoulder, and Hilary reading over the other.  
  
"Redmond, Washington..." Rei said as Tyson wrenched the letter from his hands to read it himself.  
  
"Alright! We're going to the U.S.A.!" he declared with a beam.  
  
"I think we should take some more time to think about this." Max said uncertainly, looking at the letter again. "The invitation says our plane leaves next Thursday. That's five days from now. They'll meet us there, they say, at the entrance...hey, Kai, are the tickets in the envelope?"  
  
Kai opened the envelope again, pulling out six tickets. "Wow, she really does know a lot about us...they've bought tickets for Hilary and Kenny, as well." Rei said, taking the tickets from Kai and reading them over. "The plane leaves at five o'clock...so we'll reach Seattle, Washington somewhere in the afternoon...that's a long flight."  
  
Tyson shrugged. "Who cares?" Hilary rolled her eyes.  
  
Mr. Dickenson rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Kai, you know this Marina?" the room fell silent, and all eyes rested on Kai.  
  
Kai had his arms crossed and had watched the others in silence. "Yeah, I knew her." He said flatly. Max frowned.  
  
"Can't you tell us more than that?"  
  
Kai sighed. He really didn't want to get into a history lesson. But, looking at the expectant looks on his teammates' faces, he decided it really couldn't hurt. "We met just before I took on Tyson for the first time, while I was still with the Blade Sharks." He said just as impersonally as always. "She beat everyone I threw at her, so finally I just decided to see what she could do."  
  
"And you beat her no problem, right?" Tyson said, too excited about going to America to really care about how Kai and this Marina chick had met. Rei, Max, Hilary, Kenny, and Mr. Dickenson all looked at Kai, waiting for an answer. But Kai said no more.  
  
"Come on, we can head back to my place." Tyson said, taking the invitation and the tickets and stuffing them back into the envelope, tucking it in his pocket. "Thanks for calling us in, Mr. Dickenson...we're going to America!" With that, Tyson walked out of the office, his teammates following with rolls of their eyes, heading back to Tyson's place to start their training, as it seemed no matter how much they talked the matter over, Tyson was going to America. And the least they could do was come along with him and make sure he didn't get into trouble. Well, lots of trouble, at least.  
  
- -- - -- -  
  
"If there's no such thing as perfect, then why practice?" Tyson grumbled as his blade spun about before him, colliding with Kai's blade and bouncing back off again, the two tops circling each other at high speeds.  
  
"Because the Demangels are gonna be as close to perfect as you can get, if they're as good as they think they are." Kenny said, checking the speeds of the two blades on his laptop.  
  
"You've got that right," Dizzi replied from inside his laptop. Tyson sighed as their battle ended in a draw, their blades returning to their hands.  
  
"We're the best bladers there are, Chief!"  
  
"How can you be so sure? You've never battled them before!" Hilary protested.  
  
"Well, Kai battled Marina." Tyson replied arrogantly.  
  
"Yeah, and lost." Tyson and Hilary both froze, turning to stare at Dizzi. "Whoops...maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud."  
  
"Dizzi and I have been searching the net for information on the Demangels." Kenny explained as Tyson continued to stare.  
  
Kai remained silent, his arms crossed and his eyes closed.  
  
"It turns out that they've won quite a few tournaments here and there, in fact they've never lost a battle before. I don't think this is going to be as easy a win as you think, Tyson." Kenny said, typing a bit more on the laptop.  
  
Tyson, for once, was silent. His arms were crossed as Kai's were, and for one he was thinking more than speaking.  
  
"Wow!" Kenny said, looking at something on his laptop screen.  
  
"What is it, Chief?" Tyson said, jolted out of his musings.  
  
"It says here that Marina trained with the Majestics, 'Gladiator of Glasgow' Johnny McGregor and Enrique in particular, until a week before we battled against them." Kenny said.  
  
"So she's friends with loads of Beybladers that are tops from their countries." Hilary said. "And she's friends with Mariah, and with Salima. Not to mention she's pals with the Saint Shields. Basically, she's gotten close to everyone we've had trouble battling before." She hadn't been with the Bladebreakers until just recently, just before meeting the Saint Shields and the Psychics, but had researched a bit on some of the bladers the Bladebreakers had faced, just to get more involved. "And we don't even know if she's the best on her team, or the captain, even."  
  
"Yeah?" Tyson said indignantly. "Well, we also don't know if she's still good enough to beat Kai like she did before."  
  
"I have to agree with Tyson on this one." Rei said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, we've all come really far, and we've all trained really hard and we've become a lot stronger than we used to be. Sure, she may have trained with some of the top bladers, but that doesn't mean she's as good as they are..."  
  
"Yeah, I don't remember her ever saying that she was the best in America." Tyson said, his spirits rising again.  
  
Kai opened his eyes, watching his teammates in silence. He, himself, was having doubts, but was almost as excited about going to America and battling the Demangels as Tyson was. "That settles it, then." He said. The others turned to look at him, grinning. A smirk twitched on Kai's lips, and his eyes gleamed. "We're going to America." 


	2. Back to America

Chapter 2:  
  
Back to America  
  
Marina peered at the clock that hung inside the airport. She leaned back against the wall by the entrance, waiting for the Bladebreakers to arrive.  
  
"You're sure they've accepted?" said a girl to her right, with long golden- orange curly tresses, her eyes a brilliant hazel color. Marina nodded. "Well, they're late."  
  
"We can all read the clock, Chione." Said another one of the Demangels with an irritated glance, a girl with strait blonde hair that was tied in low pigtails with ribbons that matched her odd red-pink eyes.  
  
"Shhh, Nyoko." Said the last of the Demangels, a girl with pale blonde hair, almost white, with pink and pale blue highlights, her eyes an amber- yellow color. She was sitting on the ground, back against the wall, fingering a pair of red fuzzy dice, which she then tossed back to Marina who caught them by the connecting string.  
  
"Indira's right." Marina said as she tied the fuzzy dice to her right belt loop on her tight jean capris. "We can't be getting restless and start bickering like that Tyson does with Hilary."  
  
"Did I hear my name?" came a voice. The Demangels looked up at the blue haired boy, the rest of his team behind him and looking not too interested, although their eyes betrayed their hidden excitement. And there was Kai, watching Marina carefully, his eyes traveling down to rest on her red dice. She smiled inwardly, knowing he recognized them.  
  
"Yes, you did." Indira said, standing up and extending a hand to Tyson. Tyson took it with full confidence, and Indira let slip a small smile. "I'm Indira Takahoshi." She said.  
  
"And I'm Tyson Granger!" Tyson declared.  
  
"Yes, we were aware of that." Said Nyoko in the same irritated tone that she had used with Chione. "But honestly, we're going to miss the plane if we don't go...right now."  
  
Indira and Tyson released hands looking each other in the eyes. "Let's go." She said with another small smile, turning about and entering the airport, the Bladebreakers, Hilary, and Kenny following her, with the other three Demangels taking up the rear.  
  
On boarding the plane, it turned out that the Demangels had given the Bladebreakers tickets that put them in seats that alternated with the Demangels, except for Kenny and Hilary, who had seats next to each other behind Kai and Marina, Kenny and Kai sitting in the window seats. In the middle four seats were (in order of left to right): Tyson, Indira, Max, Chione. On the other side were Rei and Nyoko, with Nyoko in the window seat. Tyson was obviously burning with energy.  
  
As the plane lifted into the air, however, Tyson had forgotten all about going to America, and was on his sixth bag of peanuts and third glass of water, Indira watching with amusement flickering in her eyes, Max leaning forward to see around her, looking at all the empty peanut packages.  
  
"Tyson, you'll make yourself sick!" Chione laughed from beside him.  
  
"Just wait until we really start going...we're just lucky there are barf bags there..." As the four in the middle made fast friends, Rei and Nyoko sat in silence, Nyoko staring out the window as they rose above the clouds.  
  
"It's gonna be a long ride." She said softly, turning her head toward Rei and smiling faintly. He nodded. "You were on the White Tigers team with Mariah, weren't you?" she said after a long pause. He nodded again, turning to her, the mentioning of his friend catching his attention. Nyoko smiled, having hoped he'd be interested. "Yeah...we, the Demangels that is, traveled around with them for a while...you're all she talks about."  
  
"Really?"  
  
As the ice was broken and they continued farther on about their pasts and such, Kenny was researching more about the Demangels, Hilary reading over his shoulder. Kai and Marina sat in silence, Marina listening to a CD in her walkman, and Kai sitting back, arms crossed and eyes closed.  
  
Marina glanced sidelong at him and smirked, lowering her earphones so that they rested around the back of her neck. She turned the volume down and shifted in her seat so that she faced Kai somewhat. "You really are anti- social, aren't you. You were a lot more full of yourself the first time we met." Kai opened one of his eyes and peered at her. Kenny and Hilary grew silent, eavesdropping on the conversation. In the middle rows, Tyson and Indira were now having a peanut-eating contest, Max and Chione cheering them on. Tyson won by a long shot.  
  
"There's nothing to say." Kai said shortly, closing his eye again. Marina smiled, brushing her hair from her eyes.  
  
"Well, if you won't say anything, then you can listen to me." She raised an eyebrow and flashed a grin.  
  
"Where did you go, after we first met?" Kai said abruptly, opening his eyes and frowning. Marina was a taken aback.  
  
"Uh...oh." She smiled. "I went to Rei's old village to meet my friend Mariah. Rei had already left, I suppose, because he wasn't there when I arrived. I met Nyoko there...she had just moved in and was practicing with the remaining White Tigers, Mariah included. I stayed a while, then decided to tag along with Nyoko when she went to visit her brother, Enrique."  
  
"Enrique, huh?" Kenny said softly. "No wonder they spent most of their time with him..."  
  
Kai nodded slowly, closing his eyes and leaning back again. "Where'd you meet the other two?"  
  
"We left just before you, the Bladebreakers, battled and won against the Majestics. Nyoko and I were on a cruise, and we met Chione there with her friend, Miriam, of the Saint Shields."  
  
Kenny frowned. "Wow, they've been everywhere, huh!" Hilary nodded agreement.  
  
"We made friends with all them, and Chione decided to stick with us. We traveled here and there, and came across my old friends, Salima and Indira. They weren't together, Indira decided to complete our team and so we were traveling around to pick up new skills, and we ran across Kane, Salima, and the rest of the gang. Then we heard that the Saint Shields were in the same area, and we heard from Dunga that he had gone and challenged you and that kid, Wyatt."  
  
Kai opened his eyes again, staring out the window. Wyatt. He remembered full well about Dunga. He shrugged, closing his eyes again. Marina suppressed a giggle. "So then you recognized my name and wanted a rematch, to prove what you've learned." He concluded.  
  
"No." he opened his eyes, looking at her, trying to look uninterested. She smiled. "I had heard of the Bladebreakers and that they were supposedly the best team around. So we, the Demangels, called up Mr. D to see if he could arrange a meeting. And he did; that's how we got the invitation to you. I guess it was partially because I was curious about how you've improved, but I really wanted to see the whole team, not just you...so don't get too excited."  
  
"I think I'm gonna be sick."  
  
"Not on me, you don't!"  
  
"I TOLD you, Tyson! Do you ever listen? NO!"  
  
"Shut UP Hilary!"  
  
Marina closed her eyes and drifted into a light doze, ending the conversation where it was. Kai decided to do the same, leaning back once more and closing his eyes as Tyson and Hilary started bickering back and forth. This was going to be a long flight. 


	3. New York, New York

Note: I am NOT pairing up Kai and Marina. They don't and won't have any strong feelings for each other besides friends. I'm simply putting this here because I received an email (not a review) from someone who was pestering me about it – he obviously had not read my 'fyi' in my profile. I suggest you do before reviewing or emailing me with complaints. ¬_¬  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
New York, New York  
  
Sooner or later Tyson finally dropped off to sleep. Rei and Nyoko had dozed off just after Kai and Marina, and Hilary was now sleeping as well. Indira was reading a book and Chione was listening to music with Max. Kenny, however, continued to type away on his laptop, conversing in whispers with Dizzi.  
  
"Can't you get me any data on their bitbeasts, Dizzi?" They had been searching the net for an hour or two now, and still they knew nothing about the Demangel's bitbeasts except that they were extremely fast and packet a wallop, although it was probably the blade itself, not the beast, since no one so far had seen them.  
  
"Sorry, Chief. It seems no one really knows much about them at all." Dizzi replied. "It's a bit odd, really. You would think at least the BBA would know something about them, but I can't find anything at all."  
  
Kai opened his eyes slightly, overhearing. He frowned, looking sidelong at Marina who still slept peacefully, her head now resting on his shoulder. They had been in the plane for quite a while now, and would be landing in around three hours according to the pilot. He decided not to move her lest he wake her.  
  
"Maybe they've never had to summon out their bitbeasts before, Chief."  
  
"That's impossible. Keep looking. There has to be something somewhere, Dizzi."  
  
"If I may, Chief...I've just thought of something...what if they don't have bitbeasts...? What if they're just Beyblade Parts Hunters, who've got the best Beyblade parts around, so they wouldn't need a bitbeast?"  
  
Kai frowned, trying hard to hear. But Kenny was silent.  
  
- -- - -- -  
  
The plane finally landed, and the two teams stood, stretching and yawning after the long ride. "Geez, I'm going to kiss the dirt as soon as I get off." Tyson said.  
  
Indira made a face, and Chione giggled, Max shaking his head. They all filed off of the plane into the airport, each looking about themselves. "Welcome to New York, New York, Bladebreakers." Marina said with a smile.  
  
"New York? I thought we were going to Washington!" Max said, giving Chione a quizzical look. The two had become fast friends, and now talked to one another as if they had forgotten they were to beyblade against each other sooner or later.  
  
"We are. Here're your tickets to Washington." Marina said, handing each of them a new ticket. "We thought you'd might want to stretch your legs a bit and have a decent meal before continuing to Wa-"  
  
"You read my mind, sister! Let's get some chow!" Tyson said, punching a hand triumphantly into the air.  
  
Indira stared in disbelief. "After all the peanuts you ate on that last ride, you're still hungry? Where do you put it all? You're like a bottomless pit..."  
  
"That's Tyson for you." Hilary said with distaste. Tyson grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.  
  
"Well come on, what are we waiting for? I'm starving here!" And so the ten of them made their way from the airport out into the city where the cars whizzed by like their life depended on getting to their destination pronto, and there were hundreds of buildings and a couple skyscrapers. Tyson didn't notice any of it, though. "Okay, where are we eating?"  
  
Indira suppressed a snicker. "Come on, follow me." They soon made their way to a little restaurant where they were seated and watched in awe as Tyson downed his own meal, half of Kai's, half of Chione's, and Indira's baked potato. He would have even taken Nyoko's, too, if she hadn't threatened to stab him with her fork.  
  
"Well, well...look who's in town." The group looked up at the group of four boys that now stood before them. The first, the one who had spoke, wore a snide grin, his black hair in his auburn eyes, and had the ace of spades on a red string around his neck.  
  
"Ace." Chione whispered to Max, who sat beside her. "He's not their captain, but...well, he's kinda like Tyson is to the Bladebreakers, you know?" Max nodded. He knew exactly what she meant. "The other three...the one with the dark brown hair and green eyes, he's Zeke, the captain. The one beside him, the one with the pale blue hair and gold eyes, the one with the black bandana, is Gene, and the last one, off a ways, with the blonde hair and blue-gray eyes, he's Yuu."  
  
"Go away, Ace. Or, if you want to stay, shut up." Nyoko said from beside Rei.  
  
"Yes, Ace, honestly." Said Zeke, nudging past him.  
  
"Hey there, Zeke." Chione said as the busboy cleared their table. "We'd have called you up, but we've got company." She waved her hand at the Bladebreakers. Zeke nodded.  
  
"I noticed."  
  
"Hey, guys, this is Zeke. He's the captain of Team Hellfire. That guy over there is Yuu, and there's Gene, and the annoying one is Ace." Indira said. Ace stuck his tongue out at her, and she smirked. "Come on, we can chat more outside." She placed two twenty-dollar bills on the table before they left, to pay for the meal. The fourteen of them made their way outside. Indira peered at her pink and blue watch. "Hmm...actually, we'd better get going."  
  
"Going?" Zeke asked, giving her a questioning look. "Y'all are going back to Washington, then?"  
  
Marina nodded. "Yup, back to my place. We've challenged the Bladebreakers, but we want to use the new stadium back at home." Zeke nodded.  
  
"I see. Well, good luck..." Zeke grinned. "If you ever feel like comin' back over here, look us up, 'kay?"  
  
"Hold it right there!" Ace exclaimed, crossing his arms. "There is no way you guys are going anywhere without a battle first!"  
  
Tyson grinned. "Alright!"  
  
"No!" Hilary exclaimed, crossing her arms across her chest. "We're going to miss the plane! Tyson!"  
  
But Tyson and Ace were already standing at the ready. "Don't worry, Hilary! I'll make this quick!"  
  
"Or I will," Ace said with a smirk.  
  
"Tyson!" Hilary protested. Indira shook her head, putting an arm out to stop Hilary from advancing on Tyson. "Let him blade." She said softly. Hilary stared at her for a moment, then crossed her arms and watched in a moody silence. She obviously didn't like being told to let Tyson do what he wanted by another girl.  
  
"Let it Rip!" both bladers cried in unison, their blades shooting from their launchers. Ace's beyblade was black and red, and there was a bitbeast image on the bitchip, Kai noticed, although the blade spun so fast he couldn't make it out.  
  
"Alright, Dragoon!" Tyson said as his blade zipped across the concrete, chasing Ace's top. "You've got him! Attack!" his beyblade zoomed in close, the two tops' attack rings grinding against each other and sending sparks to spray across the pavement.  
  
Hilary was fidgeting where she stood. "We are going to miss the plane...Tyson, pick up the pace!"  
  
"Go, Dragoon!"  
  
"Let's go, Spade!"  
  
"Spade?" Kenny frowned. "What kind of bitbeast is that?"  
  
Dragoon emerged from the blade as the two blades bounced off each other, rising above them in a flurry of blue light. "Impressive." Ace said indifferently. "Let's go, Spade." A red beam shot from the bitchip, and soon a massive black wolf countered Dragoon, flames licking its maw and demon wings sprouting from its back, each covered almost completely by metal tendrils.  
  
"Wow." Max said, watching as the two beyblades collided once, twice, three times. "You've got 'im, Tyson! C'mon...!!"  
  
Marina frowned. There was a lot of power radiating from that Dragoon. Maybe they had underestimated the Bladebreakers, despite all the times Indira had warned them against it.  
  
She exchanged glances with Indira, Chione, and Nyoko. She hoped Kai wasn't much better at Beyblade than Tyson. She'd have her hands full, then. And Nyoko had done so much, using her invention to block Dizzi from accessing sites on the net that would give her too much information on them.  
  
But Indira had defeated Ace, and tied with Zeke. If Tyson failed to defeat Ace, they wouldn't have much to worry about, since it was Indira who would face Tyson. But how would Kai fare in a battle with Ace and Spade?  
  
The two blades continued to spin, tearing up the concrete beneath them and sending up clouds of debris. Tyson shielded his eyes with his left arm, squinting to see his blade.  
  
"Wow," Chione murmured, her golden curls bouncing in the slight breeze. Max nodded silently. What else was there to say? She had described the battle perfectly.  
  
"Attack!" Tyson and Ace called simultaneously. Their blades circled each other once, then zoomed in for the final blow. But, as they zoomed in, Dragoon hit off a loose bit of torn concrete, sending it wobbling, only to be hit by Spade. Tyson's blade was blasted into the air, where he caught it, a look on his face that could only be described as utmost disappointment.  
  
"Damn." Nyoko murmured.  
  
Ace smiled snidely, his top still spinning amongst the rubble. "Indira, I don't think he's worth your time."  
  
"Shut up, Ace. I'll be the one to determine that." Indira snapped back, seeing Tyson standing there, looking at his blade in what might have been shock.  
  
"Whatever," Ace said, too smug about his win to be put down. "I'll be seeing you all around, 'cuz I doubt you're gonna make your plane." He grinned, turning and walking down the sidewalk, waiting for the rest of his teammates at the corner.  
  
Zeke frowned as Max and Rei approached Tyson, desperately trying to comfort him. "It's alright, Zeke." Indira said, noticing his silent sympathy. "He's a blader. He'll get over it."  
  
Zeke smiled faintly and nodded. "I'm sorry we've caused you to miss your flight...that battle was a real fluke. If Tyson's blade hadn't hit off that rock..."  
  
"I know, but there wasn't anything we could've done to help him." Indira reassured him with a sigh. "We'll find some place to stay...you'd better join their team; they'll need all the help they can get trying to keep Ace's ego contained." She crossed her arms in distaste. Zeke smiled softly and nodded, turning to follow his teammates around the corner and out of sight. Indira turned back to Tyson, watching as he refused to be encouraged by his friends.  
  
"Great, Tyson." Hilary was saying. "Not only are you being a sore loser, but you've made us miss our plane, too!"  
  
"Shut up, Hilary." Tyson said softly, pocketing his blade and looking at her with an expression that clearly showed he was not in the mood to argue.  
  
"But-"  
  
"Just shut up." Hilary looked a bit hurt at this, but not nearly as hurt as Tyson was. He had stridden right into another mess without a second thought, and he had caused them to miss their flight to Washington.  
  
Marina stared at the ground. She knew how much Tyson was hurting. "Come on, guys." She said softly. "We can stay tonight at a hotel or summat..." the others nodded in silent agreement, starting on their way down the street to the closest inn or hotel.  
  
"You alright, Ty?" Rei asked.  
  
"I'm fine." Tyson said bitterly. "Just fine." There was no way they were leaving until he had a rematch and won, he promised himself. The only way to beat an ace was to play down another ace...then win the War. And that was exactly what he planned to do. 


End file.
